Pesticide use Notification Plan - Point Wolstoncraft

1. Introduction

The Plan sets out how Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre will notify members of the community of pesticide applications it makes or allows to be made to public places that it owns or controls. The plan allows members of the community to take action to avoid contact with pesticides. Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre will ensure that pesticides are applied to all areas and places in a safe, responsible manner, minimising harm to the community and the environment.

The Plan describes:

What areas within Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre are covered by the plan

Who regularly uses these areas and an estimate of the level of use

How Sport and Recreation will provide the community with information about its pesticide applications in these areas (ie. what notiﬁcation arrangements will be used)

How the community can access this Plan and get more information about the Sport and Recreation notiﬁcation arrangements

How future reviews of the Notiﬁcation Plan will be conducted

Contact details for anyone wishing to discuss this plan with Sport and Recreation and Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre.

Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre and Sport and Recreation use pesticides in public places only when necessary to eliminate noxious weeds and broad leaf weedsto protect Centre property from pest damage and protect the users of the Centre from nuisance or danger.

The majority of pesticide use consists of applying herbicides for weed control and applying insecticides to manage insect pests. The frequency of programmed application ranges from four to six times per year for sports ﬁelds, two to ﬁve times per year for gardens and other Agency ground areas. Bait insecticides are used for termite and ant control to protect structures and public safety wherever this is considered an effective solution. Other pesticides used include fungicides, rodenticides, and large vertebrate baits. For more information, contact us.

2. Public places covered by this plan

Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre is situated on the southern shores of Lake Macquarie. Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre and Sport and Recreation propose to use or allow the use of pesticides in thefollowing categories of outdoor areas that are contained within the boundaries of the Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre:

The purpose of the use, clearly setting out what pest or pests are being treated

The place of use

The proposed date/s or date range of the pesticide use

Contact number or email address of the departmental ofﬁcer who people can contact to discuss the notice

Any warnings regarding re – entry to or use of the place of application speciﬁed on the product label or the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA)1 permit.

Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre’s estimate of the level of community use, regular user groups and types of pesticide use in each of these categories of public places is summarised in the following table.

* The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), the national government body responsible for assessing and registering (or otherwise approving) all pesticide products in Australia and for their regulation up to and including the point of retail sale.

Location

Regular user groups

Frequency

Type of pesticide

Gardens and parks

Children

Adults

Elderly people

Recreational users

Very high (frequently used by multiple users, with short to medium length stays)

Spot herbicides

Spot insecticides

Bait termiticides, ant control.

Playgrounds

Children

Adults

Elderly

Recreational users.

High

Spot herbicides

Spot insecticides

Bait ant control.

Picnic areas

Children

Adults

Elderly

Families

Other social groups.

High

Spot herbicides

Spot insecticides

Bait termiticides, ant control.

High ropes and abseiling

Children

Adults

Recreational users.

High

Spot herbicides

Spot insecticides

Spray ant control

Bait ant control.

Sporting ﬁelds, ovals, bush land and related sporting facilities

Sporting clubs and associations

School sports groups

Recreational users.

High

Spot herbicides

Spot insecticides

Broadscale selective herbicides

Spray or bait termiticides on facilities

Rodenticides within facilities.

Road verges and reserves

Local residents

Clients or visitors walking or driving on the road.

Low for rural areas

Medium to high for urban areas

Spot herbicides

Broadscale selective herbicides.

Laneways and pathways

Local residents

Clients or visitors.

Medium to high for urban areas

Spot herbicides

Broadscale selective herbicides.

Easements accessible to the public (eg. road, utility)

Local residents.

Low to medium

Spot herbicides

Broadscale selective herbicides.

Drains and fence lines

Local residents

Clients or vistors walking or driving on the road past a drain.

Low to medium

Spot herbicides

Broadscale selective herbicides.

Kitchen and dining room facilities

Children

Adults

Elderly

Families

Other social groups.

High

Spot insecticides

Bait rodenticides

Bait termiticides

Bait ant control.

Spray spider control

Administration ofﬁces

Children

Adults

Elderly

Families

Other social groups.

High

Spot insecticides

Bait rodenticides

Bait termiticides

Bait ant control.

Spray spider control

Units and lodges

Children

Adults

Elderly

Families

Other social groups.

High

Spot insecticides

Bait rodenticides

Bait termiticides

Bait ant control.

Spray spider control.

Toilet and shower blocks

Children

Adults

Elderly

Families

Other social groups.

High

Spot insecticides

Bait rodenticides

Bait termiticides

Bait ant control.

Spray spider control.

Recreation hall

Children

Adults

Elderly

Families

Other social groups.

High

Spot insecticides

Bait rodenticides

Bait termiticides

Bait ant control.

Spray spider control.

Staff residences

Children

Adults

Elderly

Families.

High

Spot insecticides

Bait rodenticides

Bait termiticides

Bait ant control.

Spray spider control.

Archery shelters

Children

Adults

Elderly

Recreational users.

High

Spot insecticides

Bait rodenticides

Spray spider control

Bait termiticides

Bait ant control.

Boat and bike storage sheds

Children

Adults

Elderly

Recreational users .

High

Spot insecticides

Bait rodenticides

Spray spider control

Bait termiticides

Bait ant control.

Workshop areas and compounds

Staff.

High

Spot insecticides

Bait rodenticides

Spray spider control

Bait termiticides

Bait ant control.

Interiors of agency buildings

Adults

Children

Elderly

Staff.

High

Spot insecticides

Bait rodenticides

Spray spider control

Bait termiticides

Bait ant control.

Swimming pool buildings and grounds

Children

Adults

Elderly

Recreational users.

High

Spot herbicides

Spot insecticides

Bait termiticides on facilities

Rodenticides within facilities

Spray spider control.

3. Notiﬁcation arrangements

This section of the Plan describes how and when Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre will provide notice of pesticide use in public places, including special measures for sensitive places that are adjacent to public places, arrangements for emergency pesticide applications and circumstances where notice will not be given.

These notiﬁcation requirements are based on Sport and Recreation and Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre’s assessment of:

The level of usage of public places where pesticides may be used

The extent to which members of the public who are most likely to be sensitive to pesticides (eg. young children, pregnant women and elderly people) are likely to use these areas regularly.

The extent to which activities generally undertaken in these areas could lead to some direct contact with pesticides such as picnic areas where food is consumed and sporting or other recreational activities that result in contact with the ground.

The type of pesticide used.

Notice of pesticide use will be provided by a combination of:

Signs

Information on the Sport and Recreation website (which will describe programmed, reactive and emergency pesticide use in Agency areas)

Letters

Fax, phone and email contact.

Local papers.

Sport and Recreation uses small quantities of some pesticides that are widely available in retail outlets and ordinarily used for domestic purposes (including home gardening). Sport and Recreation does not intend to provide notice for such pesticide applications other than by way of this description in this Plan (or general information on the Sport and Recreation website). This will apply to minor control of indoor and outdoor insect pests using baits or aerosol spray cans and spot weed control using a wand or hand – held spray bottle or knapsack sprayer.

4. How and when notice of pesticide use will be provided

4.1 Outdoor recreation areas

The notiﬁcation arrangements described above will apply to the following categories of facilities owned or controlled bby Sport and Recreation and Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre:

parks and gardens

Surrounding bushland areas

Playgrounds

Picnic areas

Sporting ﬁelds and related facilities.

In these areas, signs will be provided to clients and the general community near the application area or the main entrance to the facility at least 48 hours prior to application and remain 48 hours after application for the following pesticide uses:

Broadscale selective herbicides

Broadscale non–selective herbicides

Broadscale insecticides

Spray spider control.

4.2 Special measures for sensitive places

Where any of the above pesticides are used adjacent to a sensitive place, special measures for sensitive places are required. The occupiers will be provided with 48 hours prior targeted notice by phone, mail or letter drop (or by an established local arrangement).

Place declared to be a sensitive place by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

Information will be available to the general public on the Sport and Recreation website about the forward program for the above applications (updated every three months) and on the following pesticide uses in outdoor recreation areas:

Spot herbicides

Spot insecticides

Bait ant control.

4.3 Outdoor public land owned or controlled by Sport and Recreation

Outdoor public land owned or controlled by Sport and Recreation including:

Road verges and reserves

Laneways and pathways

Road, rail, utility or other easements accessible to the public

Drains and fence lines.

For these areas, information on the forward program for broadscale herbicides use will be posted on the Sport and Recreation website every three months.

A letter drop of the adjacent properties will occur 48 hours before the expected date or dates of broadscale herbicides application for the above pesticides uses.

For broadscale herbicide applications in the aforementioned areas, signs will be used to inform site users of the proposed application. Signs will be erected near the application area or at the main entrance to the facility at least 48 hours prior to application and remain 48 hours afterwards.

Where programmed spot herbicides applications occur on outdoor public thoroughfares and the above easements, adjacent to sensitive places, , prior notice by mail or letter drop will be provided at least 48 hours beforehand.

Notice will NOT be given where occupiers of properties adjacent to Centre areas who use pesticides on parts of these places near their properties.

Special notiﬁcation measures for programmed pesticide use in outdoor places adjacent to sensitive places of each category of public place have already been noted.

For non-emergency reactive pesticide use in outdoor public places next to sensitive places, the Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre will provide concurrent notice shortly before use to the occupier by phone, e-mail, door–knock or letter drop, depending upon what is most practicable.

If a pesticide must be used to deal with an emergency in an outdoor public places in public place that is adjacent to a sensitive place, the Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre will organise a door–knock in that sensitive place, preferably at least 30 minutes before, so people are aware that a pesticide is about to be used to deal with a dangerous pest infestation.

5. Emergency pesticide application

In cases where emergency pesticide application in a public place is required to deal with biting or dangerous pests such as wasps, bees, venomous spiders, ﬂeas, bird mites or rodents (that pose an immediate health hazard), or where immediate action is required to protect assets from serious damage, Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre will, where possible, provide notice by posting signs nearby at the time of application. If this is not possible, the Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre will provide information via the Sport and Recreation Centre website or by request to the person applying the pesticide.

6. Pesticide contractors and lessees of agency land

Where the Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre uses contractors to apply pesticides on its behalf, the centre will ensure that notiﬁcation is made in accordance with the notiﬁcation requirements of this Plan.

Where persons or organisations hold an existing lease within Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre, they will be required to inform Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre Management of any intention to apply pesticides. Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre will arrange and coordinate any pesticide application on the site in accordance with the requirements of this plan.

The purpose of the use, clearly setting out what pest or pests are being treated

Place of use

The proposed date/s or date range of the pesticide use

Contact number and email address for a Sport and Recreation ofﬁcer whom people can contact to discuss the notice

Any warnings regarding re–entry to or use of the place of application speciﬁed on the product label or the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) permit.

Signs will be of a standardised design that will be easily recognisable to the public and workers.

As already noted, the Sport and Recreation website will have a dedicated area that describes the programmed, reactive and if practicable, emergency pesticide use in Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation with a link to this plan.

The relevant website address will be publicised in local papers, when this medium is used for notiﬁcation.

7. How the community will be informed of this Plan

Sport and Recreation will advise residents of this Plan and its contents by:

Making a copy of the plan available for viewing, free of charge, at Point Wolstoncroft Sport and Recreation Centre Administration ofﬁce, Kanangra Drive Gwandalan NSW 2259 during business hours.

Placing a copy of the plan on sportandrecreation.nsw.gov.au/pointwolstoncroft

Placing a notice in the Central Coast Express.

8. Future reviews of the Plan

The Notiﬁcation Plan will be reviewed every three years or when circumstances require a review of the plan. The review will include:

A report on progress of implementing the Plan

Public consultation on the notiﬁcation methods outlined in the Plan will be addressed by placing the Plan on public exhibition, with any proposed changes and calling for public submissions.

In light of public submissions, making recommendations for alterations (if applicable) to the Plan.

9. Contact details

To discuss this Plan or to obtain details of pesticide applications in public places, contact us.

For sporting clubs and organisations

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Office of Sport acknowledges that we are living and working on Aboriginal land and recognises the strength, resilience and capacity of Aboriginal people on this land. We would like to acknowledge all of the traditional owners of the land and pay respect to Aboriginal Elders past and present.